Half-wave Plates for the Spider Cosmic Microwave Background Polarimeter

Spider is a balloon-borne array of six telescopes that will observe the Cosmic Microwave Background. The 2400 antenna-coupled bolometers in the instrument will make a polarization map of the CMB with ~degree resolution at 150 GHz and 95 GHz. Polarization modulation is achieved via a cryogenic sapphire half-wave plate (HWP) skyward of the primary optic. In this thesis, the design, construction, and lab testing of the HWP system are discussed. The polarization modulation of these optical stacks is modeled using a physical optics calculation and Mueller matrices. Performance tests in both the lab and integrated in the flight cryostat show consistency with the model.Comment: 165 pages, PhD Thesi

Couple and family therapies for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (Intervention). The objectives are as follows: The objectives of this review will be to: assess the efficacy of couple and family therapies for adult PTSD, relative to 'no treatment' conditions, 'standard care', and structured or non‐specific individual psychological therapies; examine the clinical characteristics of studies that influence the relative efficacy of these therapies; and critically evaluate methodological features of studies that bias research findings

Element Abundances in a Gas-rich Galaxy at z = 5: Clues to the Early Chemical Enrichment of Galaxies

Element abundances in high-redshift quasar absorbers offer excellent probes of the chemical enrichment of distant galaxies, and can constrain models for population III and early population II stars. Recent observations indicate that the sub-damped Lyman-alpha (sub-DLA) absorbers are more metal-rich than DLA absorbers at redshifts 0$<$$z$$<$3. It has also been suggested that the DLA metallicity drops suddenly at $z$$>$4.7. However, only 3 DLAs at $z$$>$4.5 and none at $z$$>$3.5 have "dust-free" metallicity measurements of undepleted elements. We report the first quasar sub-DLA metallicity measurement at $z$$>$3.5, from detections of undepleted elements in high-resolution data for a sub-DLA at $z$=5.0. We obtain fairly robust abundances of C, O, Si, and Fe, using lines outside the Lyman-alpha forest. This absorber is metal-poor, with O/H]=-2.00$\pm$0.12, which is $\gtrsim$4$\sigma$ below the level expected from extrapolation of the trend for $z$$<$3.5 sub-DLAs. The C/O ratio is 1.8$^{+0.4}_{-0.3}$ times lower than in the Sun. More strikingly, Si/O is 3.2$^{+0.6}_{-0.5}$ times lower than in the Sun, while Si/Fe is nearly (1.2$^{+0.4}_{-0.3}$ times) solar. This absorber does not display a clear alpha/Fe enhancement. Dust depletion may have removed more Si from the gas phase than is common in the Milky Way interstellar medium, which may be expected if high-redshift supernovae form more silicate-rich dust. C/O and Si/O vary substantially between different velocity components, indicating spatial variations in dust depletion and/or early stellar nucleosynethesis (e.g., population III star initial mass function). The higher velocity gas may trace an outflow enriched by early stars.Comment: 42 pages including 9 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Implications of gambling problems for family and interpersonal adjustment:Results from the Quinte Longitudinal Study

AIMS: To evaluate (1) whether gambling problems predict overall trajectories of change in family or interpersonal adjustment and (2) whether annual measures of gambling problems predict time-specific decreases in family or interpersonal adjustment, concurrently and prospectively. DESIGN: The Quinte Longitudinal Study (QLS) involved random-digit dialling of telephone numbers around the city of Belleville, Canada to recruit 'general population' and 'at-risk' groups (the latter oversampling people likely to develop problems). Five waves of assessment were conducted (2006-10). Latent Trajectory Modelling (LTM) estimated overall trajectories of family and interpersonal adjustment, which were predicted by gambling problems, and also estimated how time-specific problems predicted deviations from these trajectories. SETTING: Southeast Ontario, Canada. PARTICIPANTS: Community sample of Canadian adults (n = 4121). MEASUREMENTS: The Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) defined at-risk gambling (ARG: PGSI 1-2) and moderate-risk/problem gambling (MR/PG: PGSI 3+). Outcomes included: (1) family functioning, assessed using a seven-point rating of overall functioning; (2) social support, assessed using items from the Non-support subscale of the Personality Assessment Inventory; and (3) relationship satisfaction, measured by the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale. FINDINGS: Baseline measures of ARG and MR/PG did not predict rates of change in trajectories of family or interpersonal adjustment. Rather, the annual measures of MR/PG predicted time-specific decreases in family functioning (estimate: -0.11, P < 0.01), social support (estimate: -0.28, P < 0.01) and relationship satisfaction (estimate: -0.53, P < 0.01). ARG predicted concurrent levels of family functioning (estimate: -0.07, P < 0.01). There were time-lagged effects of MR/PG on subsequent levels of family functioning (estimate: -0.12, P < 0.01) and social support (estimate: -0.24, P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: In a longitudinal study of Canadian adults, moderate-risk/problem gambling did not predict overall trajectories of family or interpersonal adjustment. Rather, the annual measures of moderate-risk/problem gambling predicted time-specific and concurrent decreases in all outcomes, and lower family functioning and social support across adjacent waves

Up Schitt’s Creek?: Comedy as a slantwise pedagogical encounter with queerness

Pedagogical approaches to learning about LGBTQI+ themes and experiences remain a largely under-studied topic in teacher education. In response to this gap, the purpose of this paper is to offer reflections on the pedagogical value of comedy for exploring such themes and experiences in teacher education, focusing especially on the situational comedy (sitcom) Schitt’s Creek. We suggest that the sitcom offers teacher education an opportunity for ‘slantwise’ pedagogical encounters with LGBTQI+ themes and experiences, i.e., non-affronting encounters that resist damage-centred narratives of LGBTQI+ people and are open to multiple queer futures. In exploring how the sitcom offers teacher educators and student teachers these kinds of encounters, we provide a reading of three episodes of Schitt’s Creek through a ‘queer utopian’ lens. We accompany this analysis with prompts for teacher educators to use in discussing these episodes in the teacher education classroom. The piece concludes with some thoughts on the significance of comedy for exploring the relationship between affect, education, and social justice more generally

How social housing tenants respond when their homes are made more energy efficient. ESRI Research Bulletin 2019/05

Social housing is an important form of support for many vulnerable households. As well as requiring physical accommodation, these households also need heating, lighting and other basic services. The social welfare system provides many people with income supports, but there are also targeted measures to help with particular aspects of housing quality. This study examined the effects of subsidies that are mainly intended to improve household energy efficiency but which confer multiple benefits on vulnerable households. Our aim was to learn more about how social housing tenants react to these measures; in particular, when social housing is made more energy efficient, do the tenants tend to reduce their spending on energy services or do they maintain their spending and enjoy more thermal comfort? Both of these behaviours offer benefits to the households, but the balance between them has implications for the achievement of other public policy objectives. For example, reducing energy use would advance climate policy goals, while taking more thermal comfort should improve public health

Interactions between pyroclastic density currents : insights from analog experiments

During some explosive volcanic eruptions, multiple pyroclastic density currents have been produced within a short time span of each other and flowed through the same area. This creates the potential for the currents to interact, specifically in a way where a leading current is produced, and then a similar trailing current is produced a short time later and possibly flows into the leading current. The leading current, having changed the ambient surroundings from normal air, may then have an effect on the dynamics and behavior of the trailing current. To examine this effect, we designed scaled experiments to produce an analogue leading current and a trailing current that flows into it. The experiments took place in both an air medium and a water medium. The results of the experiments showed that the behavior of the trailing current may change as a result of interacting with the leading current. After certain intervals of time between currents, the trailing current had a longer final runout distance compared to the leading current it flowed through. This is caused by the presence of a plume created by the leading current when it reverses buoyancy. At intermediate heights above the bed, after moderate amounts of time between currents, the leading plume is less dense than the newly created trailing plume, and the trailing current cannot rise, and the momentum stays in the body of the trailing current. This accelerates the trailing current, which decreases sedimentation rate, and allows the current to runout to a greater distance before lifting off. At low heights and great heights above the bed, the leading plume is denser than the trailing plume, and the trailing plume can then rise without impediment. In natural pyroclastic density currents, the magnitude by which the leading current affects the trailing current depends on the rise time of the leading plume.Geological Science